5 minute read
Meeting fear with kindness
Has the command to social distance created new opportunities for us to connect? asks Ann Clifford, author of Time to Live and Where is God in our 21st Century World? WITH KINDNESS FEAR Meeting
“T he islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold” (Acts 28:2). The people of Malta met Paul and his fellow travellers with extraordinary kindness after they’d survived a shipwreck – at their moment of need.
We human beings are also fellow travellers through life, inescapably connected together. All of us as a community, a country, are in the midst of a virulent, life-threatening storm. We might not be in the most vulnerable group, but if we are cavalier with ourselves and our lifestyle, we risk not only ourselves but, as importantly, the lives of others. It seems God has allowed our lives to be touched forever and perhaps changed our future. While much is negative, there are some positive outcomes. ● The mandatory social distancing has released a deep yearning for connection, with social media providing powerful ways to connect. ● Families can re-find each other, deepen relationships, rediscover the joy of touching and hugging each other. ● Our carbon footprint is quantifiably smaller – over China the pollution has cleared; in Venice the waters cleared as sediment settles, unchurned by constant river traffic; cars, trains, planes are stilled all over the world. ● Our stilling from frenetic life pace. Time can be a gift and whilst I pray for the NHS and all those suffering and dying, my job as from 8.30pm on Monday, 23 March is to remain at home. By the time you read this, I wonder if that order will loosen or regulations become more stringent?
I followed the outbreak of the virus from the start as Steve and I were due to travel Europe on our sabbatical visiting many of the places Paul the Apostle travelled to. I watched this dream dismantle in front of my eyes as the reality of what we faced set in. Praying for my country, my borough, my town and my street, I prayed for God’s mercy over and over, often at a loss for words. So much had been happening over the world was of biblical proportions – fire, floods, enormous locust clouds and now a plague.
During this period my reading was Jeremiah, who lived through a most terrible period in the history of God’s people. Though attacked and his life threatened, his knowledge of God grew and his faith in God’s faithfulness never left him. As I prayed, the idea to meet fear with kindness formed. What could I do? I decided to collaborate with another neighbour, write a letter to every person in my street, and invite them to join a WhatsApp group to support each other. I felt it was urgent. On Sunday, 8 March, I delivered the invitation to every home.
There are 71 households in my road. A few responded, but as the sobering implications of the virus grew, 32 households signed up. A realisation we need each other and share a corporate sense of responsibility. I haven’t met many I have been in touch with or spoken to on the phone or texted, but one day I will. When we can stop social distancing, I plan to organise a garden party and invite everybody. Perhaps then I will discover how God has made Himself known in many lives.
Strange isn’t it – a command to social distance makes us desperate to connect. I knew where Jesus would be in this crisis, right in the middle. It is where I decided to place myself to be available to listen, to care and to help wherever possible. I want an outbreak of kindness to bring fundamental change to our society – to introduce people to kindness personified: Jesus, who makes Himself known on the ground where we live through each one of us. By reaching out to
neighbours we are there when God needs us to walk into difficult and devastating situations with His comfort.
I am aware you will be reading this a month later than I wrote it. According to the Government, we will be near the peak of the devastation of this virus. Some of us will be weeping because we have lost loved ones; some of us thankful loved ones have recovered; few of us will have avoided the virus’ effects. My heart is full of compassion for each one as we face what life has delivered.
But God is good, is great, is near and loves each one of us dearly. May God bless you today.
A NEW PSALM
I declare the goodness of God. His faithfulness beyond measure. The beauty of His presence, the joy of His companionship. He fills lives with mercy. He teaches what is important and everlasting. He takes away the clouds, clears the skies, allows His clarity to shine unstopped, like a glorious full moon, radiant before the dawn. He is immeasurable, but also intimate. He is resplendent, but as present as skin on the body. He forgets nothing, yet remembers only love. In Him, the world begins and ends. In Him, purpose is defined. In Him, all things receive their proper proportion. The light of His loveliness pours over His people, covering them with supernatural radiance. He is, we are. His story is our story. We cannot be forgotten or misremembered. In Him we live and move and have our being. In Him we are whole. He glories in us. We exist to glorify Him, His praise ever in our minds and hearts. The tale of His living, unstoppable goodness forever in our mouth.
